Northern Winds
by HyrulianJedi
Summary: During a winter visit to Imil with his family and friends, Aaron gets an unexpected message calling him to the cliffs in the north.


Winter had once again descended on Weyard, covering much of Angara in a blanket of snow. Mercury's beacon shone like a sparkling sapphire, the centerpiece of the frost that crowned the world. Above the white sheet, a million stars surrounded the world in a glittering halo, watching the world in silence from their cloudless sky.

The snow crunched beneath Aaron's boots as he trudged up the hill north of Imil, wrapping his cloak tighter around him. Around him the wind howled, grabbing at the ends of his cloak and threatening to rip the garment from him should his clasp fail. He flexed his fingers twice inside their gloves, feeling the sharp pains of cold cracking and splintering his hand as he staved off the coming numbness.

He grumbled to himself quietly as he stumbled again, his boot falling deep into the snow. Nobody had any business out here at night, least of all him. Why hadn't they just walked there together? For all he knew, the others would find his body in the morning, all blue and cold and hard.

Shaking his head, Aaron tried in vain to rid himself of the mental image. He wouldn't let it come to that. He was a man, and men did not simply lie down to die in the cold. Men were unconquerable. They fought on until death was certain, and then continued fighting.

Besides, he knew the thought was overly dramatic. Imil's northern edge was framed by a long hill that rolled up gently until sharply dropping off into the ocean, as if one of the gods had cut a mountain in half. He was, at worst, fifteen minutes from the town proper. He could probably roll down the hill and reach a house.

"Come on, Aaron! What took you so long?"

The boy turned his head up and saw Megan framed against the black sky behind her, lit by the bright moon hanging overhead. She placed a hand on her hip and tossed her head to the side, her pigtails flopping up and down. "Well, sorry," he said, a bit of his irritation creeping into his voice. "I'm not used to marching through snow in the middle of the night."

Megan giggled, covering her mouth up with thickly gloved hands. "Trust me, it's worth it. Come on, you're almost here!"

Aaron grumbled under his breath as he slowly continued, realizing that his toes had gone numb. His feet would follow soon, along with his fingers, then his hands. His nose and cheeks were already gone, his hat the only thing saving his ears from the same fate, but he knew that merely took time.

Each step seemed heavier than the last as the weight of the snow and his clothing took their toll on his body, exhaustion settling into his muscles. The boy wanted nothing more than to sit down on the hill and rest for minute or two, but his pride prevented that. Besides, his brother could have finished the hike easily, probably even twice, in the time it had taken for him to reach this point. To stop now would be letting him down, as well.

Crunch. Howl. Crunch. Crunch. Howl.

He focused on placing one foot in front of the other, one after another, despite the protest his knees made against him. His breath came heavier, misting out into the cold night like a plume of smoke. Sweat forming on his back trickled down, leaving a chilly trail where it ran. He hoped it wouldn't freeze like that.

Suddenly he found himself staring at a pair of small, white boots, light brown fur poking out of the tops. The toes wiggled at him as best they could from inside their fluffy prison, and he looked up to find Megan grinning at him. "Let's go, this way," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling.

He nearly planted himself facefirst into the snow, but managed to start his feet moving in time to catch himself and stumble along after her, barely keeping his balance in check with his momentum. "Megan," he panted, "where are we going?"

"You'll see!" she called back, continuing to drag him onward. "It's right through the trees, don't worry!"

The excitement in her voice drove him on. Whatever it was, it obviously mattered a lot to her, so he pushed himself further, clinging to her hand out of fear that she might simply leave him if he let go now. They weaved between trees and bushes, all painted white by the thick snow. If they kept going, would they simply run off the cliff?

As if in response to his worry, they suddenly burst into an open area, the view of tree trunks and low-hanging pine branches and snow-covered bushes abruptly transforming into the wide, chilly black of the ocean. Aaron ground his feet into the snow, jerking Megan back, but lost his precious balance in the process.

He fell backwards into the snow, Megan collapsing beside him with nothing but a surprised gasp. The snow cushioned his fall, then wrapped around him like a great pillow and embraced him tightly. After a long moment, he realized he had no intention of picking himself up again. He lay there silently, the only sound that of his and Megan's heavy breathing.

Closing his eyes, he felt a soft breeze roll over his face, carrying with it a fresh crispness. He shivered once in his frozen bed, knowing it would only feel colder if he rose. The crunch of snow and rustle of cloth beside him pulled him from his descent into slumber, however.

"Hey! I didn't bring you out here so you could go to sleep!"

Aaron opened his eyes to find Megan standing over him, her hands on her hips. He grinned up at her. "Just five more minutes..."

Megan clicked her tongue and swung her foot, slinging snow over his face. The boy sat up quickly, shaking the cold ice from his face before it could melt and trickle to the back of his neck, or down into his clothes. "Cut it out!"

The girl rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "Oh, quit moaning. Come here, I want you to see this."

He grumbled under his breath again, still feeling the frosty sting of snow on his face, but took her hand anyway, the two working together to return him to his feet. Reaching behind him, he brushed the snow off his back as best he could, then shrugged and turned back to Megan.

When he did so, he found her looking at him curiously. "What?" he asked.

She shook her head with a smile, turning around. "Just wondering how you can't see it," she said, pointing out to the ocean. Aaron followed her finger and his jaw suddenly dropped.

In the distance a curtain of red light hovered over the ocean, gently shimmering and wavering in an invisible breeze. As Aaron watched, wide-eyed, it danced along the horizon, briefly kissing its reflection in the water below before backing away, spinning into the air. The light slowly whipped one trail up into the sky, sending a burst of red haze washing over the stars overhead before dispersing again.

"This... This is..." Aaron said breathlessly, afraid the sound of his voice would frighten away the dancing fae. He slowly reached out, trying to touch the light, then quickly pulled his hand back, feeling foolish. "Is this...foxfire?"

Megan shook her head. "No," she said in a similar volume. "It's called the aurora. It happens all the time up here. Sometimes it lights up the whole sky."

Aaron stepped forward slowly, moving to stand by Megan. "It's incredible," he whispered, his words barely audible over the gentle breeze that caressed him. "What is it?"

"Mia says it's one of the few things where all four elements come together, which is why it's so beautiful," Megan said. "Mars gives light from the sun to Jupiter, which carries it to Weyard on wind. Venus pulls the light down to us."

"What about Mercury?" Aaron asked, not taking his eyes away from the brilliance before him.

"A long time ago, Procne, the goddess of winds, fell in love with a man named Boreas. She gave him the north wind as a gift, but it was too much for a regular person and froze his heart," Megan said. "He became a god, but couldn't return Procne's love, so he left the rest of the gods behind and went as far north as possible. Now his wind comes down from across the ocean with the cold and the light of the aurora. It's his apology to Procne, making the wind that she gave him the most beautiful of all."

Aaron nodded silently, continuing to watch the constant rippling and winding of the red curtains. Again and again they slowly snapped out great tendrils of light that stretched across the sky, turning the entire ocean the red of dawn. Far below him he could hear the sudden crashes of waves against the cliffs, the only audible sound around them, save for brief bursts of wind.

"I...wanted you to be able to see this," Megan said after a few minutes of silence.

"It's incredible," Aaron said again. "Everyone should see this."

"No, Aaron... I wanted to show this to _you."_

He looked over at the girl, finding her face tinged crimson. "Are you okay?"

Megan nodded, her pigtails bouncing up and down from beneath her thick hat. "I'm fine..." she said, trailing off.

Aaron frowned, turning to face her completely and stepping close. "No, you're not. Your face is all red from the cold. Come on, let's get back before you get frostbite."

Her frown mirrored his as she stared at him for a moment. "It's nowhere..." She paused, shaking her head and glancing away. "Oh, Aaron," she muttered. After another moment, the girl looked at him again with a smile on her face. "You're right. Let's go back. It is pretty cold."

He nodded, then reached up and unclasped his cloak, throwing it over both their shoulders and pulling it tight. "Here, this'll keep you warmer."

Megan suddenly giggled, covering her mouth with her hands again. "Aaron, you... Never mind." She grabbed his hand beneath the cloak. "Come on, you'd better get me inside."

Aaron pulled her close and led the way back into the trees, the scarlet veil behind him billowing and curling as Boreas exhaled slowly across the night sky, kissing the world with the gift of a midnight dawn.

* * *

><p>AN: Written for Temple of Kraden's 2011 Kradenmas contest, as well as GameFAQs' December 2011 contest, concerning how our favorite characters are spending the holidays.

Also, since I'm fairly certain this is the first, I hereby dub Aaron/Megan Aurorashipping. Next up: Takeru/Ahri!


End file.
